InRoads SS4 vs. OpenRoads Regarding Creating Cross Sections

My company is in the process of upgrading from InRoads SS4 to OpenRoads and I'm currently at a point in the process where I'm troubleshooting creating cross sections and have a few questions.

When creating cross sections using InRoads the Create Cross Section menu would appear allowing you to customize the look of your drawing sheets in any number of ways from one menu.  You were able to adjust spacing, create custom sta. ranges, manipulate your axes and so forth.  All very helpful in one nice menu that also allowed you to save preferences.  OpenRoads appears, from what I have gathered in my limited use, to lack such a menu and what items you can adjust are somewhat spread out. 

For instance, some of the cross section variables are set when you create the Cross Section Sheet Definitions.dgnlib file for a particular scale factor.  The scale factor along with things like offsets, vertical exaggeration and clearances can be changed later when you open the Place Named Boundary Civil Cross Section menu but other variables like axes and spacing can not be. 

In InRoads you could also adjust RT to LF and TOP to BOT spacing as well as TOP and SIDE margins in the same aforementioned menu.  In OpenRoads you appear to have to add the following lines of text with your desire values to the config file located in your Organization-Civil folder.

# Cross Section Spacing Values
CIVIL_CROSSSECTION_RT_TO_LT_SPACING = .083
CIVIL_CROSSSECTION_TOP_TO_BOT_SPACING = .083
CIVIL_CROSSSECTION_SIDE_MARGIN  = .083
CIVIL_CROSSSECTION_TOP_MARGIN  = .083

Am I correct in my observations?  It seems InRoads had a much cleaner workflow where all variables could be adjusted in one menu and a preference saved for future use.  OpenRoads requires you to make some variable changes in the Place Boundary menu while others require you to go in to your config file and some don't seem to be adjustable at all.  Instead of saving a preference in OpenRoads does the user just need to created multiple cross section sheet definition dgnlib files?

I just want to make sure I'm utilizing OpenRoads correctly and that there isn't a simpler workflow available.

Thanks.

Parents
  • Hi Chris Neelin,

    I found the information about the configuration variables in the following forum post:

    https://communities.bentley.com/products/road___site_design/f/geopak-inroads-mx-openroads-forum/146581/ord---cross-sections-sheets?ReplySortBy=CreatedDate&ReplySortOrder=Ascending

    The units are associated with your final sheet drawing which is a 1:1 scale so the .083 spacing I used is 1".  I'm assuming I could have used a value of .083 or :1 which would have been the same thing if you want a 1" space or margin. 

    I don't know for sure but I don't think there are similar configuration variables for plan or profile sheets.  The plan and profile views that appear on your sheet drawing are controlled by your sheet definitions dgnlib files.  When you created these dgnlib files you had to layout named boundaries that represent the location and size of your plan and profile views on your drawing sheets.  If you want to change the spacing or margins on your drawing sheets after they are created, open the sheet view and then open your reference file menu.  The plan or profile views are reference files and can be moved around your sheet by picking them from the reference file list and then clicking the "Move Reference" icon.  If you want to change the spacing or margins for all sheets created in the future you'll have to create new sheet definitions dgnlib files with the named boundaries sized and arranged to suit your spacing or margin needs.

    When you create cross sections, OpenRoads determines how many views will fit on each sheet based on variables like scale, offsets, clearances and vertical exaggeration you specify when creating the sheets.  The margins and spacing you specify in the config file will also have a bearing on the number of cross sections per sheet.  Cross sections, unlike plans and profiles, are not controlled by named boundaries in the dgnlib files. 

    I hope this information helps.

Reply
  • Hi Chris Neelin,

    I found the information about the configuration variables in the following forum post:

    https://communities.bentley.com/products/road___site_design/f/geopak-inroads-mx-openroads-forum/146581/ord---cross-sections-sheets?ReplySortBy=CreatedDate&ReplySortOrder=Ascending

    The units are associated with your final sheet drawing which is a 1:1 scale so the .083 spacing I used is 1".  I'm assuming I could have used a value of .083 or :1 which would have been the same thing if you want a 1" space or margin. 

    I don't know for sure but I don't think there are similar configuration variables for plan or profile sheets.  The plan and profile views that appear on your sheet drawing are controlled by your sheet definitions dgnlib files.  When you created these dgnlib files you had to layout named boundaries that represent the location and size of your plan and profile views on your drawing sheets.  If you want to change the spacing or margins on your drawing sheets after they are created, open the sheet view and then open your reference file menu.  The plan or profile views are reference files and can be moved around your sheet by picking them from the reference file list and then clicking the "Move Reference" icon.  If you want to change the spacing or margins for all sheets created in the future you'll have to create new sheet definitions dgnlib files with the named boundaries sized and arranged to suit your spacing or margin needs.

    When you create cross sections, OpenRoads determines how many views will fit on each sheet based on variables like scale, offsets, clearances and vertical exaggeration you specify when creating the sheets.  The margins and spacing you specify in the config file will also have a bearing on the number of cross sections per sheet.  Cross sections, unlike plans and profiles, are not controlled by named boundaries in the dgnlib files. 

    I hope this information helps.

Children
No Data